Resources

Current work

Fine-tune vortexing code that moves robot around rather than directly away from obstacles.

Vortexing code is added and shows results; but is still inconsistent. Needs to be working on 2Room map before trying Obstacle map again?

Implement SLAM algorithm to improve robot mapping. (This may not be testable in MobileSim -- might have to use the physical robots?)

Changes made to original code

Gate-sensing function added to potential attraction calculation.

Previously, the robot was not drawn to narrow openings such as doorways or halls due to their being surrounded by an obstacle. With the gate-sensing function, the robot is slightly more attracted to such narrow openings, called "gates", making it more likely to investigate rooms and corridors.

Gates show as yellow cells on the maps, though like other cells they stop being attractive once the area around them has been explored enough.

Limited turning per timestep.

Previously, the robot often turned as much as 180 degrees at once, which could cause erratic behavior on simulation but would be harmful to a physical robot. Now, the maximum amount a robot will turn per timestep is defined as a variable in RobotMap.h, making the robot's turns smoother.

Bugs fixed:

All robots now shut down after map is completed, where previously only the one that first received the complete map did.

Robot no longer considers itself an obstacle when calculation repulsion by other robots -- this had caused some strange behavior in cell just below robot.